Changes Are For The Better
by Michiko-sama
Summary: She's friendless, rich, and unhappy with life in general. Being morose and contemplative doesn't help, does it? No, but landing in Middle Earth might...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Ohayo minna! It's me again, the crazy, eccentric, amateur of a writer, ChangeofHeartTwins! See? I updated in time! But only 2 chapters! Sorry! I've been really lazy for three straight months, so yeah... Anyways, there have been mountains of work to get through! Who cares! Enjoy the revised version!

Disclaimer: I do not LoTR --. If I did, I'd be riiiiiiiiiiich...

* * *

Chapter 1: In the _Mallorn_ Forest

'Hey, Candy, why don't we…whoops, sorry, didn't notice ya!'

20 year old Arinya Handelson fought off her jealousy as the two friends who had bumped into her strolled past, laughing and giggling like regular people should. Friends. The word had rarely entered her context for about what, her whole life?

Never had a single friend entered her life. Earlier, bullies dominated it, taunting her for being shy and well, rich, but that eventually faded out, much to Arinya's relief. But even then, she found that she could not reach out to others, and touch upon their life as a friend. There were many people she could have socialized with, but somehow, she couldn't.

And then it continued through elementary school, to high school, and to university. So she took solace in the only thing she decidedly had an interest in: on a sudden, wild impulse, archery.

Somehow, the two hobbies filled her colourless life with splotches of brightness, filling the crevasse where her heart once was.

It also spirited away the trappings of home life. Her overbearing mother and father, richie riches who were used to ordering everything around, told her to this and that, and the word 'choice' was all but nonexistent.

Arinya smiled bitterly. Her younger brother had been the smart one, leaving the moment he turned eighteen. He got the bold genes, unafraid to stand up to anyone. When Arinya had asked him why he always went out of the way to follow his own path and not the one their parents laid out for them, he laughed at her and said, 'Sis, you're so uptight about their rules you could be your own bowstring!'

She had once wondered if he were right or wrong about that, but now, she had no second doubts. Even though it wasn't much, she still had a resolve, and now, she resolved to…

'_Go to your secret sanctuary?'_ her mind suggested. Arinya's head slowly looked around and to her surprise, it was empty. It was a chance too good to pass up, and besides, she hadn't gotten around to visit that place in a long, long time.

One last look assured her that no one could see her route, and she took off, neatly rounding three tight corners, an amazed old lady, a few bushes, and into warm embrace of the golden-green trees, erasing all the clouds of today, replacing them a warm, burgeoning joy.

Arinya's backpack bounced and jounced on her back as she ran to what she knew was her favourite spot in all this forest: a small, sunlit meadow with a huge tree smack in the center.

A large grin spread across her face as she shrugged off her shoulder straps, and sat like a rock at the base of the protective tree. Luckily for her, nothing had changed since she left it about a month ago. Actually, nothing had changed to the trees since she found them when she was but ten. She was glad though. It meant that nothing could change the fact that they were there for her in her neediest times.

_Much like friends_, she mused, staring off into space. In any case, the forest experience was…different today.

The feeling was warm and accepting, filling her with unexplainable happiness. Something had filled her entire being with beauty and buoyance, something that wanted her to stand up and dance, which by the way was something she as horrible at.

She sighed disappointedly, literally standing up and slinging her books and bags over her shoulder, starting to walk out at the same time. Even if she didn't find out what the wonderfully cheering feeling, or its cause was, the lovely trees were still a sight.

Arinya looked up, smiling ruefully at the everything within her line of sight, _shame, this feeling sounded rather hopeful…_

It took a few moments to realize that she wasn't heading out of the forest, but deeper and deeper, right into the heart, the only part of which that Arinya never explored.

The trees were slightly wilder, the leaves darker, and the place slightly more oppresive.

The sunlight had disappeared.

And for the first time since she entered the forest, she felt a tangible, touchable fear.

Arinya tried to move her legs, and tell them, 'No! This is the wrong direction! I have to turn back! Turn back you stupid legs!'

Staring ahead didn't help her jellied nerves one bit. The eerie forest only turned darker and darker and darker…

But steeling them was all she could do, and steel them she did, letting her own feet guide her on a seemingly neverending path. And anyways, if it were her lot to die at the end of this, so be it. Her life was drifting away, one piece at a time already.

But just as she finished the glooming thoughts, a small, but hopeful ray of sunlight broke through the canopy, warming her spirits ever so slightly. Even if it were predestined, she would NOT die today, not in her forest.

And soon, there were more beams of the glimmering sun. Birds reappeared, as if solely to entertain her bored, leg-sored state.

Suddenly, her feet came to a halt, and little by little, she started to regain use of them again, walking round and round the shady little meadow, round and round the strange birdbath, savouring the sweetness of control again.

On one of her rounds, her head sounded something that was vaguely like recognition. I know this place…

Only when the picturesque little meadow fit into her memory world did her legs come to a shuddering stop.

It was not just any meadow.

Her mouth dropped in sheer amazement. _It…..it…..no way……no possible way…_

Arinya pounded up to the birdbath in the centre, and confirmed her guess.

It was Galadriel's mirror.

The exact same. Everything, every little detail was there. And when she looked around again, she noticed a small arm-high waterfall, and a _tall, elvin glass pitcher on the lip of its pool._

Cautiosly, she peered into the glassy water mirror. She had reason. Frodo had seen terrible scenes of destruction that had nearly overwhelmed him, and Arinya had no wish to witness the same. Closer and closer her head fell to the water, until her nose almost touched the mysteriously glimmering surface.

Come…..it beckoned to her, willing her to lose herself in its depths.

Come…..it told her the very same promise the trees had vowed.

Come…..it instructed her to lower her face but an inch more.

And Arinya had no reason not to oblige.

* * *

A/N: Review, and read on! Criticism is nice, but flames have to be justified!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I know! The chapters are getting a lot longer! The third one (I'm working on it...) is about six pages on Microsoft Word! Meh...just read!

Disclaimer: Same as always...don't own, gets no profit...

* * *

Chapter 2: The Last Homely House of the Elves

From the moment Arinya dipped her face in the cool, but inviting water she knew all was right.The view beneath the water was crystal clear allowing her to see each and every intricate little carving on the basin.

She giggled, sending a small stream of bubbles right up against her face, which only made her laugh like crazy even more. This was _fun_, and fun was something she hadn't experienced in a long, long time.

Suddenly, a lurching sensation iron-gripped her stomach, and her face was shoved right against the bottom of the mirror…

But she felt and saw nothing at all.

Her strangled, fright-wrought voice finally pierced the new environment. 'What the hell…?"

It was black, darker than any black she had ever seen before. Darker than the midnights back at home, darker than the blackest dreams she had ever dreamed.

Arinya reached out a tentative hand, and tried to touch something, anything, to cement her to reality.

But all she felt was the nothingness of her surroundings…..and the quick, unsteady rhythm of her heart.

It vaguely occurred to her that she was falling, but that did not register amidst stronger, more overpowering feelings until a speck of light, so tiny it was almost imperceptible against the blackness appeared in her vision.

And she was falling towards it.

Her body strained against the slow, snail-pace speed at which she was falling, but the darkness seemed to reach out a hand and calm her nerves.

_Well….._She stopped moving, and let the pace continue as it was.

Slowly, the pace of her dropping into the nothing she was in increased, and the light grew larger and larger, filling her with a sense of rushing giddiness.

Larger and larger and larger…obscuring her whole line of vision…almost…

'AAARGH!'

A glaring sun blinded her as the fall continued, now through open air, the pace reaching breakneck speeds.

And for the first time on her drop, Arinya felt fear.

Here she was, just twenty years old, dropping a few stories, going to break her neck, going to _die…_

In water?

She caught a glimpse of the crystalline surface of the river before it raced up and met her shrieking face, submerged her in its cool embrace with a mighty crash.

For the second time that day, Arinya Handelson's very uncalm visage was fully underwater in an alien environment.

Though this time, her whole body had followed it in as well.

Her body was slammed against the riverbed, crushing every last ounce of air out of her, heightening her terrified state.

Air! Every part of her body screamed, 'AIR!' and she found all of her limbs floundering wildly to propel herself to the surface, towards the life-giving necessity that was so tantalizingly out of her reach…..

As soon as her face broke the rippling surface of the river, Arinya took the freshest, sweetest gasp of air she had ever taken in her life, then just floated in the middle of the river in her sodden clothes, trying to catch whatever breath she took before the not-so invigorating plunge.

After all (including her heartbeat) had calmed down, she glanced around, and saw and felt pairs of eyes solely fixed on her.

Many pairs, in fact.

Nine wicked, one pure, and one very, very eerily toeing the line, in fact.

As soon as her own eyes landed on the nine pairs of wicked ones, she felt a cold ice freeze her body, paralyzing everything, except fear.

And then the nine pairs of wicked eyes on the nine horses began to splash through the river, all the way to the middle, all the way to her.

The voice of the pure eyes screamed out a warning, to her or the nearing riders unclear, but one thing was: Arinya stayed stock-still, as though unaffected by the events swirling around her.

But in a second, all of that rushed away in a white wall of roaring water.

Through blearing eyes, she could see the riders and the horses and their flailing hooves being swept away alongside her in the crashing, ripping, unrelenting waves. Bubbles swirled all around her, instantly wiping away the luxury of sight, but her mind was strangely clear, clear enough even to churn out a last thought amidst the buffeting water.

_I've left everything I could have had…a hard life, but a life indeed…for this…heh…._

That was before all the light left her eyes, and the roar of her surroundings enveloped her in a shadowy midnight of darkness.

* * *

Gandalf watched the small ups and downs of the sleeping form under his penetrating, yet kind gaze.

Elrond had said that she would wake today…..and he and his foresight had never been wrong yet. Nonetheless, he exhaled slowly in a sigh. Even though patience was a virtue he had long since mastered, waiting still held a certain amount of control over his nerves.

And this kind of waiting pained him; watching the unfortuante souls struggle on the verge of life and the threshold of death always stabbed relentlessly at his heart.

His eyes panned the benign hospital, completely devoid of sound except for the slow breaths of he, the girl, and poor Frodo.

_I am sorry, Frodo_, Gandalf thought, his head bowing, _to put you through so much pain…_

'Unghhhhh…'

Gandalf sharply righted his head, only to stare down again at the twitching, quivering body. Perhaps Elrond _was_ right after all.

But a second after the thought had passed, the girl's eyes had fluttered open, and were now, as he had done moments ago, scanned the room.

'Wh-where am I? And who…..oh I am sorry, sir, forgive my rudeness,' she said, blushing slightly.

Gandalf smiled lightly at her, and gave his reply as kindly as he could. No doubt the house of Elrond was far away from where she normally lived. 'Do not apologize, child. This is the Last Homely House of the Elves, the house of Elrond, and I am Gandalf.'

If he had been expecting surprise, or even a gasp, it was not how Arinya reacted.

Her face instantly turned sheet-white, her eyes bulged, and various shades of shock and amazement (with a tinge of fright) passed across her eyes.

But like all humans did, she did not express, but speak.

'Oh. My. God.'

Arinya could only blink, and blink, and blink, and stare up at the old man in front of her disbelievingly.

_No WAY…no WAY on EARTH can I be…here…,_ she thought, trying her hardest to rearrange her very-confused head, with various crazy thoughts zooming around like out-of-control budgies.

'Are you all right?' Gandalf asked, peering at her with an intensity that pierced even through her hazy mind, and made her slightly uncomfortable.

'Y-ye-es, I th-think s-so,' Arinya stuttered out, stumbling painfully over every syllable. _God, I can sound like an idiot anywhere!_

'Good,' he said, rising. 'I'll send up a servant with some food, and we can talk later.'

Arinya watched as he crossed the infirmary, strode through the door, and left her all alone to deal with her little…

_No, big_, she amended, _BIG…._

…problem. A jumble of unfinshed thoughts that sounded much like, 'HowdidIgehereamIgoingbackwasthatGandalfHOLYJESUSCHRIST,' flew across her mind's eye, making her squeeze her eyes tightly shut to avoid the cacophony of sound going off like a cherry bomb.

Slowly, ever so painfully slowly, it subsided, leaving behind but a small train of words. _Maybe it's not a problem._

Arinya stared up at the intricate ceiling, pondering her last thought. Maybe it wasn't a problem after all. Maybe it was the escape she had wanted all her life. And she was _alive_; she had survived that terrible, roaring water.

And as soon as it finished, a slow grin, almost like the one beside the mallorn trees a memory ago, spread across her face. Yep, this was the solution to her problem back at home.

_This is my home now,_ she thought, sitting straighter. _I hope._

And the only answer to that lay in Gandalf (and Elrond), whose steps had started to pad towards the doorway once again.

* * *

A/N: Well, review! Oh yeah, I'll be changing the title, summary, and my name after I post the third chapter, so don't be surprised!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I know! A quick update...not! I've been working on these bloody 7 pages for THREE MONTHS! I'm so lazy, yes I am...heheheheh...

Disclaimer: I don't own LotR, too bad... --

* * *

Chapter 3: Many Explanations 

'How are you…?'

Arinya stared at the Gandalf framed in the doorway, holding a small tray heavily laden with elven foods in his hands.

He smiled, and set it on the carved nightstand. 'Most servants are busy at the moment, so I took it upon myself to bring this up to you.'

No response.

He tried again. 'What is your name, child?'

Arinya floundered amidst possiblities, all of which seemed to come from a choice: to tell, or not to tell. There were mysteries, locked doors behind both, and she had never cared much for gambling.

But now, the very choice held her future in Middle Earth in its hand. _Well, here goes nothing…_

'Arinya. My name is Arinya.'

She watched her name descend through the unspoken levels of judgement in his eyes, very rightly so indeed. It was not an elven name, nor a Gondorian name, nor one of Rohirrim, which only left…

Trickles of blood ran down her chin, seeping through the neat slit she had made on her lips. It only left the Mordorian names, which meant she had just leapt from the frying pan and into the fire.

But somehow, somewhere deep within Gandalf's eyes (though she didn't notice it at the time), it passed the test. He did notice the little river of crimson running, though.

'Arinya, you're bleeding,' he said, pure, unadultered concern shining like candle's light down on her terrified self.

A sigh of relief almost slipped past her lips, before she forcefully pushed it away along with the blood, and replied using her polite, thoroughbred reply. 'I am all right, thank you.'

Gandalf smiled. For a moment he had thought she had feared him, and would keep him away, but it was not so, and it would make his job much easier. 'Where are you from, Arinya?'

A small droplet ran down her chin _again._ Here it was again. The choice. To trust or not to trust. To tell or not to tell.

Well, it was a 'yes' she could never have passed up.

'Gandalf…'

* * *

'There was no lie in her eyes.' 

Elrond snapped a large, leatherbound book shut and gave his friend an irritated stare. 'How do you know this? She has not as of now presented proof that everything that happened to her is true. Mordorian spies are skilled at lying, and humans did always have a weak spot in your heart. Sauron could be playing us false, looking into the heart of Imladris at this instant.'

'I do not think she is one of the enemy,' Gandalf reapeated stolidly, striding over to join Elrond's pacing.

The two immortals marched in silence among the shelves, occasionally staring up at the endless rows of books, but more often at the floor. This was a time not for impulse or quickheadedness, but for deliberation, for one wrong step could send the fate of Middle Earth careening into the darkness.

Finally, when the rows of books came to an end, the two men stopped their pace, and Elrond turned to Gandalf. 'I will trust her…for the time being. She will be allowed to wander around the house, but not without a maid.'

He paused for a second, then added, 'She is also allowed to some the banquet welcoming the hobbits.'

Gandalf smiled inwardly. So the long trip to the library had not been in vain.

'Well, then, old friend, I believe I should be checking her again, and telling her of this good news,' he said, and with a little nod, swept out of the Elrond's sight.

Said elf sighed. _Did I make the right choice?_

The wizard stepped through the doorway of the hospital just in time to see Frodo's eyes open. All thoughts of Arinya hurried out of his head, and he rushed over to the hobbit's bedside.

Arinya watched the whole scene with no little amount of amusement, stemming not from the strangeness of Gandalf actually hurrying, but the familiarity of the it. The whole Gandalf-goes-over-and-talks-to-Frodo scene was nothing new to her, as she had seen the movie several times, courtesy of her action-addicted brother.

_None of those times, however, I had actually thought I would be in it,_ she thought, a frown crossing her brow. And if it was the movie version she had accidentally landed in, then Elrond was due any moment…

'Welcome to Rivendell, Frodo Baggins,' Elrond said benevolently. Right on schedule.

The next thing she knew, his eyes were on her instead of the bedridden hobbit They were a piercing chocolate brown, pools of time passing and coming. Though they contained only neutrality, Arinya found them somewhat… riveting.

It was Elrond who spoke first. 'You are welcome here as long as you like, Lady Arinya. The house's rooms and surrounding areas are welcome to you.'

He bowed his head slightly, and turned to the door.

'Lord Elrond.'

Elrond pursed his lips only for a second, and swiveled back. Her voice… it had an unnatural intensity, as well as the high octaves of nerves.

'Thank you for letting me stay here,' she murmured, her voice quavering from the first word.

His eyes softened slightly. At least she did not appear dangerous. With a nod of acknowledgement, he exited, his robes swishing behind.

Arinya stared absently into space, thoughts revolving around her head. _I can wander?_

She was knocked out of her reverie when the space she had stared a hole through was occupied. It was Gandalf, who had finally remembered her presence in the hospice. He smiled at her, knowing that her words to Elrond had not been wasted.

'Well,' he said, a sigh escaping his lips, 'this has indeed been an interesting afternoon.'

'Do you you know, Lord Gandalf, who my rescuer was?' Arinya asked, a small light entering her eyes. 'I want to thank them for bringing me life again.'

Gandalf smiled. Humans _did_ hold a weak spot in his heart. 'It was the Lady Arwen, child. Now rest, and wait for your maid.'

Arinya's eyes were still gigantic circles when Gandalf left. _ARWEN?_

A chuckle disturbed her thoughts. 'You look funny like that.'

She turned, and saw Frodo Baggins grinning at her. A smile back was all it took to make the little hobbit's face light up like a Christmas tree.

_He had very few people to smile at on the way here,_ she thought, her heart going out to him. _His few experiences must be worse than my whole life already_.

'My name's Frodo Baggins. You?'

'Arinya. A pleasure to meet you.'

Frodo's brows curled thoughtfully. 'Arinya's a pretty name, you know. You sound like you don't like it.'

Her smile twitched in amusement. He was indeed a sensitive little hobbit. 'Sort of… it's rather strange to be named that back in…'

Arinya stopped herself just in time. How on earth (well, Middle Earth) could she have let her little secret slip? Who knew what horrors one teeny tiny slip could do?

'… in my country,' she finished lamely.

Frodo sat up, adjusted the flimsy bedcovers, and answered benignly, 'Frodo's definitely not a common name in the Shire, and I like it. You just have to like yourself to like your name.'

Arinya stared downwards, gripping the sheet tightly. Like herself? As if. Worse, no one else liked her either. It was one thing not to love yourself.

_It was worse,_ Arinya thought, _not to be cared for by others._

Thankfully, the whole embarrassing scenario was popped by a maid who had appeared unnoticed by the either of the two hospitalized, and was now speaking to Arinya. Said girl was only half paying attention.

'The Lord Elrond says that you are allowed to wander the house as soon as your were ready, so I brought over a dress… my lady?'

Arinya, staring into space, only just noticed the maid in time. 'Oh, erm… yes, thank you.'

The maid smiled. 'Would you like to put it on?'

Arinya turned to Frodo, who was half grinning. 'Go on, try it on.' She blushed, and decided to take his advice, wiping all the traces of their previous conversation from her mind.

'The hospice baths are on the left, lady…?'

'Arinya,' she replied. 'Though it would be nice to drop the 'lady', if you please.'

'Well then, Arinya, my name is Mela, and it would be nice if you did call me 'lady',' Mela said jokingly, a smile on her face.

Arinya stifled a chuckle as she stood on as-of-yet unsteady legs. Holding onto the bedboard for support, she frowned. It seemed as though the long sleep had numbed her legs to the extreme, rendering rather useless.

'Do you need help, Arinya?' Mela looked at her concernedly. Arinya also felt Frodo's eyes on her.

'Ah, no, but thanks anyway.' She snatched up the dress, and almost tripping into the baths, snapped the engraved door shut. Embarrassing situations seemed to dog her like shadows.

Turning away from the door with a sigh, Arinya took in the expanse of the bathing room. A gasp pushed itself out of her throat. Gilt ceilings, tiled walls, all covered with carvings of elvesin every which position… Even her parents' house didn't have anything this elaborate…

She banged herself lightly on the head, and muttered, 'Enough thoughts about home. I'm going to enjoy this.'

The sheet-like hospice robe slithered down her body, and she stepped into the already filled tub.

A little groan followed the step into the tub. Oh… she had never felt something this nice since…when? The water parted gracefully as she sank in, staring at the beautifully carved ceiling with unseeing eyes. Maybe it was just the fatigue and dirt talking…?

One hand lazily rubbed the strange solution she assumed the elves used as shampoo, while the other traced circles in the bubbles, silently wishing everything would just melt away and leave her in the bathtub forever.

Time must have flown out the window like the wind, because for Arinya, it seemed as though only a second had passed in the warm, soothing water before Mela was calling to her from the other side of the door.

'Arinya? Are you all right? Do you need help?'

Hastily wiping the last soap suds off her glowing, scrubbed skin, she called back. 'Yes, thank you. I'll be out in a bit.'

Arinya exhaled slowly, and stepped out of the excruciatingly inviting tub. She winced as the cold air nipped at her flesh, and quickly draped a thin towel over herself. Ah, the joys of getting a cold in Middle Earth.

Her body stopped shaking. Middle Earth? Oh, right, the world she was currently stuck in. The world she _wanted_ to be in. Or did she?

A small pang of homesickness hit her like a bullet of rain; unexpected and slightly hurtful. She left all that was familiar to her, cold, but familiar anyways, to what, a somewhere that existed in a book written by a someone?

Arinya slumped into a chair. Why did everything have to be so complicated in life?

_Stop thinking about home! It's only going to be worse_, she admonished herself. Shaking her head slowly, she pushed all the thoughts out of her mind. Let them get stored up, and explode later. For now, she needed peace.

Deciding quickly that a towel would definitely not do in the company of others, Arinya turned to the dress.

A thousands were be sung at once, a million instruments played, yet all blended into one singular melody that pulsed in the dress. Arinya almost reeled when she reverently touched the dress. It seemed like it was made for her, tailored for her, right just for her.

Which was probably a crazy thought, since Rivendell would not likely have an unworn dress, considering all the womenfolk.

Still, it felt it felt every bit as wonderful indulging her imagination as that bath…

And the dress wasn't even princess material; nowhere near what Arwen wore in the movies. It had a plain, square neckline embroidered with little bead lilies; the wrist-long, slightly flared sleeves sharing the pattern. The entire gown was a pine green, which neatly accentuated the flowers blooming on the linen.

When Arinya slipped it on, a breathy sigh escaped her lips. It even _molded_ to her body.

Striding up to the mirror, she let out a chuckle. This looked even better than the Versace and Gucci articles that her mother always insisted that she wear. Not that they looked good, of course.

She shook her head for the second time that day.

_Thinking about home again, eh, Arinya?_ Wasn't she pathetic? Even her own _mind_ teased her.

Time trickled away as Arinya stared unseeingly into the mirror, setting her mouth in a straight line. No more thinking, well, at least about her past world. But even after the train of thought passed, she stood still, just staring at the mirror at nothingness.

At last, when almost all the bubbles had faded from the bathtub, Arinya snapped out of her trance-like stupor, and strode, flustered, out the door.

_I must be going crazy..._

_

* * *

_

A/N: Yeah! D'ya like it or not? Aaaanyways, I'll only be updating this story once every three weeks, as I'll be posting several new stories, and I'll need to spiff those up too. On clear skies...hmm...it means about 17 chapters per story per year. Aargh! So scary! But anyways, REVIEW!


End file.
